Mother, son found dead in car in Rhode Island

WARWICK, R.I. (AP) — A woman and her 3-year-old son may have been in a parked and idling car for several hours before being found dead in the vehicle at an apartment complex in Rhode Island, police said Sunday.

Police identified the victims Sunday as Warwick resident Kathleen Frink, 39, and her son, Ryan. Police were called to the Fairfax Village apartments in Warwick at about 8 p.m. Saturday and found the bodies.

It’s not clear how Frink and her son died. Warwick police said there didn’t appear to be any foul play or trauma to the victims, but didn’t elaborate. Autopsies were planned.

Frink lived in another part of Warwick, a city of about 85,000 people about 10 miles south of Providence. She had no known relatives or associates at the apartment complex, police said.

Authorities said it appeared the car had been parked at the apartment complex since about noon on Saturday and someone heard what sounded like a child crying at about 5 p.m., but didn’t call police. Authorities said the vehicle appeared to have been idling for several hours.

Warwick Police Chief Stephen McCartney told WPRI-TV that he found it upsetting that Frink and the boy were in the car for hours and that the person who heard a child crying didn’t call police.

“It’s very unfortunate that somebody hadn’t called police then,” McCartney said. “Maybe we would be dealing with a much different outcome at this point in time.”

Warwick police and the state medical examiner’s office are investigating the deaths.